So there you have it….the full suite of Thinking Process tools
from the Theory of Constraints. All of
these tools can be used in standalone situations, or together they form a comprehensible
problem-solving and change management system. Their basic purpose is to decode
and translate the insight of a team of people into detailed problem analysis
and then create a viable solution. The
good news is, all of the tools are based upon logic and common sense to help
teams facilitate communication, teamwork and agreement. Agreement on a win-win solution that is. We started this series of postings on the TP
tools by presenting a fictitious company named the Dome Company (Focus and
Leverage Part 193).
We started with the realization that we needed to answer three
critical questions:
1. What do I need to change?
2. What do I need to change to?
3. How do I cause the change to happen?
In attempting to answer the first question, we performed an assessment
of our current reality by identifying and describing our organization’s current
reality. We did so by identifying the
organization’s Undesirable Effects (UDE’s pronounced oodees) and then linking
as many UDE’s through sufficiency based logic. We constructed a Current Reality
Tree (CRT) to ultimately find Dome’s core problem(s) and answer the question of
what we needed to change (Focus and Leverage Part 194 and 195).
We then moved on to the next TP Tool, the Conflict Resolution Diagram
(Focus and Leverage Parts 198 199, 200 and 201) to firmly cement what we
believed was our core problem. We
identified a conflict and then identified injections on how to break the
existing conflict, but we need the help of another tool, the Future Reality
Tree to test the injections. Both of
these tools helped us begin to answer the second question, what do I need to
change to. In other words, we needed to
describe a strategy to define and attain a desired future state.
In Focus and Leverage Parts 202, 203, and 204 we presented and
constructed the Future Reality Tree, a tool to help us answer the question of
what to change to. The
FRT uses sufficiency based logic (i.e. If this...., then that….) and is a tool
that provides a platform to test ideas and look for the merits and also the
possible negative effects that might be created in the future. We told you that many times people will have
a seemingly good idea to solve a problem and the FRT allows you to test the
merits of the idea before taking any action to implement it. In other words, the FRT
provides a means to look for any negative effects that might appear if, and
when, the new idea is implemented.
Once an answer has been isolated that appears
to create the Desired Effects for the future we must determine how best to
implement the idea. We then presented The Prerequisite Tree (PRT) which allows
for the logical links, and thinking, to determine what steps will be necessary
to implement the idea (injection) and make it a reality (Focus and Leverage
parts 205, 206 and 207). The PRT becomes the transition tool to move the
thinking from “What to change to” to “How to cause the change to happen”.
What the PRT facilitates is to determine what
tasks (IO’s) are required to achieve the “objective” you want. We also determine
what the obstacles are for why you can’t make the objective happen RIGHT NOW!
With the obstacles defined we develop the Intermediate Objective (IO’s) that,
if in place, will remove the obstacles. We
explained that with the obstacles defined we needed to develop the Intermediate
Objective (IO’s) that, if in place, will remove the obstacles. We said
that with the IO’s defined we now have the list of tasks that must be completed
to get to the objective. Even with the IO’s defined it can be daunting to
look at the list and say, “Where do I begin?” We told you that if the
necessity logic is correct, the structure of the PRT defines the intrinsic
order of task completion. Now the mystery is solved! Now you can
see exactly where to begin the concept of “how to cause the change to happen.”
Our final TP tool that we explained was the
Transition Tree (TT) presented in Focus and Leverage parts 208 and 209. The TT is used to finally answer the question
of how to cause the change to happen. The
TT provides the detailed description of the Desired Outcomes (DO’s) that will
help us gradually evolve the changes we envision to occur in reality by
accomplishing the Defined Actions.
The Transition Tree demonstrated what actions
you need to take and in what order you need to take them. We told you that
there is no mystery, if we give you the place to start and the action to
take. Transition Trees are really very simple. The important part
about constructing a TT is to make the action at a level that you can do right
now.
We finished our TT discussion by explaining
that there is also a possibility that a negative branch could be associated
with a TT. We told you to keep your eyes open for possible negative
branches that could come from action(s) you take or, from desired effects that
are either achieved, or missed, because of a negative branch. If such is
the case, an alternative action is needed to overcome the negative effects.
While the Thinking Process Tools are highly
effective, one of the down sides is the length of time required to complete a
full systems analysis. Even though the
end is clearly worth the means, not every organization is willing to push on
and complete the full analysis. This is
clearly one of the primary reasons why TP analyses have had a difficult time
being accepted and used by organizations.
In our next series of postings Bruce and I are going to demonstrate an
alternative method which significantly shortens the length of time to assess
and ultimately improve your organization.
I will warn you in advance, the hard core TOC aficionados will not agree
with our methodology, but all I can tell you is that it works. Stay tuned for this next series. I am going on vacation for the next several
days and plan to spend quality time with 4 of my 6 grandbabies.
Bob Sproull
No comments:
Post a Comment